Open Europe : Daily Press Summary
 

Juncker hits out at British press;Merkel and Renzi indicate willingness to compromise with CameronEuropean Commission President candidate Jean-Claude Juncker has complained about the “gathering British press campaign” against him, and, according to the Guardian, warned his supporters in the European People’s Party (EPP) that, “You had better be ready for a lot more dirt.” Juncker also complained that “with the exception of two heads of government, I have heard nothing from Herman Van Rompuy or the others…If the heads are not capable of making proposals…I will try to negotiate informally what might turn into a working programme for the Commission.”The Telegraph suggests that, during bilateral meetings in the sidelines of the G7 summit in Brussels between David Cameron, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, a private agreement was reached to block Juncker’s candidacy and appoint a woman as a ‘consensus candidate’. Renzi told the press yesterday, “No-one can impose diktats. Neither a political force elected to the European Parliament, nor a country”, and stressed that “none of the [European Commission President] candidates has obtained a majority, so we need to find an overall agreement.”Meanwhile, Peter Wolodarski, editor-in-chief of Swedish daily Dagens Nyheter, writes, “That the EPP group nominated Jean-Claude Juncker, a person who participated in every European settlement for the past two decades, shows that the awareness of the political crisis among the EU elite is low.”Separately, Chancellor George Osborne told the BBC Radio 4 Today Programme, “Anyone who wants one of these important jobs in Europe, which affect all of our lives, needs to demonstrate, in my view, that they understand people's anger at what's gone wrong in Europe, understand the need for change in Europe.”Telegraph Guardian BBC FT Economist: Leader Economist: Bagehot Times Times: Collins La Repubblica ASCA Dagens Nyheter

ECB produces package of measures to tackle low inflation;
Markets react positively but reaction in Germany is negative
The ECB yesterday unveiled a package of five measures aimed at tackling low inflation and growth in the eurozone, including a cut in the main interest rate to 0.15%, a cut in the deposit rate to -0.1%, continuation of the unlimited short term lending, a new series of targeted long-term lending operations, and a commitment to further explore purchases of asset backed securities (ABS) related to lending to the real economy. At his press conference, ECB President Mario Draghi stressed that further action remains possible, saying, “Are we finished? The answer is no”. While many of the measures had been expected, the combined package did cause the euro to weaken and stock markets across Europe to rally.

However, the moves received a mixed reaction. The Deputy CEO of the European Banking Federation, Robert Priester, said, “We do not see negative rates as an effective tool to boost lending. There still is a lack of demand for loans.” French President François Hollande said he “saluted” the move, while German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble stressed that “the interest rate level isn't a permanent solution in the long-term” but praised the ECB’s action during the crisis. Open Europe’s Raoul Ruparel appeared on BBC Radio 5 Live’s Drive programme discussing the measures adopted by the ECB.

FAZ runs with the headline, “Penalty rates”, while the front page of Bild asks, “How bad will old-age poverty get?”, pointing out that the rate cut comes on top of rising rents and low pensions. CDU Deputy Parliamentary Leader Michael Fuchs warned that he sees “substantial risks” from the ECB’s action.
Independent NYT BBC News Guardian Telegraph Irish Times FT FT 2 City AM WSJ WSJ 2 Bloomberg Welt Süddeutsche FAZ Handelsblatt Welt: Ettel FAZ: Steltzner Bild Bild: Hüther

EurActiv looks at whether the Europe of Freedom and Democracy (EFD) group, of which UKIP is a member, will survive in the next European Parliament, and quotes Open Europe’s Pieter Cleppe as saying, “I wouldn’t write them off completely, but it’s going to be very close.”
EurActiv Conservative Home

The Conservatives have won the Newark by-election with 45% of the vote, flowed by UKIP on 25.9%, Labour on 17.7%. The Lib Dems got 2.6% and turnout was 52.79%.
Mail Times

Open Europe Berlin Director Michael Wohlgemuth is quoted by Deutsche Wirtschaftsnachrichten as saying that the European Parliament’s claim that 400 million people voted in this year’s European Parliament elections, thereby legitimising the appointment of Jean-Claude Juncker as European Commission President, is false propaganda.
DWN

Andrew Lansley, the Leader of the House of Commons, told the BBC’s Daily Politics yesterday that, if he were offered the post of UK Commissioner, “I want to say yes…My record will say I have taken positions against entry to the euro. I have been very much against the idea of ever closer union and constant integration.”
BBC: Daily Politics Independent

The Sun quotes Foreign Secretary William Hague as saying that the next year would be spent establishing “common ground” within the EU about the need for change. He said, “We are at that stage rather than the stage of a shopping list of detail.”
Sun

The FT reports that a poll by the Levada-Centre shows that the Ukraine crisis has increased anti-US and anti-EU feelings in Russia. 71% of respondents said they have a “basically bad” or “very bad” view of the US, while 60% have a negative view of the EU – the first time the negatives outweigh the positives.
FT WSJ WSJ 2 WSJ 3

Speaking after the G7 summit in Brussels, US President Barack Obama said, “We must make sure the UK stays united,” adding that it would be “hard to imagine the project going well in the absence of Britain.”
FT City AM WSJ

According to a new CSA/Les Echos poll, 21% of French trust President François Hollande – a 1% increase from the previous poll, conducted last month. Separately, France’s trade deficit went down to €3.9bn in April – but the decrease is entirely due to a fall in imports.
Les Echos La Tribune

The FT reports that Canada has persuaded the European Commission to change the latest draft of the Fuel Quality Directive, opening the way for Canadian exports of oil derived from tar sands.
FT

Hungary’s Supreme Court has ruled that the Jobbik party cannot be described as ‘far-right’ by the media, because that would amount to expressing an opinion and would leave a negative impression, EUobserver reports.
EUobserver

The Greek Finance Ministry’s top tax collector, Haris Theoharis, resigned yesterday for “personal reasons”. However, Kathimerini suggests that Theoharis had come under pressure to step down because his methods had irked some Greek government officials.
FT Kathimerini



Bron: politics.be